Fieldston sports have been at an all-time high this year, and one person has been at the center of it all: Declan “Big Luggage” Semler. A Junior and a long-time member of the community, Declan has taken it upon himself to make the environment at Fieldston sports games nothing short of electric. With his trusty speaker, “Sheila,” at his side, this six-foot-tall whirlwind of activity is responsible for the change in post-pandemic culture and the hopeful future of The Nest.
“I think Declan’s role in Fieldston sports is monumental; I think his role has changed the entire school sports community at Fieldston,” says junior Wade Dixon.
When asked why he chose to step up this year, Semler said, “I’m all about entertainment, bringing energy, making people happy, making people smile. I saw [this year] as an opportunity to teach. I really want to leave my mark on the Nest. I’m not always gonna be here, someone’s gonna have to take it from me. And I want to be known as something bigger than the forefront of sports. I want it to be rowdy, I want everyone to have a good time and it starts to become a thing where everyone can come too, even if they don’t like the sport, they’re there supporting something bigger.” In order to accomplish this goal, Declan uses a 3-foot-tall speaker named Sheila, an American flag and his boisterous personality. To reinvigorate sports, Declan even reworked the term, “The Nest,” to refer to the Eagle’s home field. Semler has taken on a larger-than-life persona. He says, “You kinda gotta become the guy with the speaker, the guy who has the flag and just show up and just get loud.”
Our school lost four sports seasons due to Covid, so everyone was eager to participate in this fall season in any way possible. Before this hiatus, school spirit was thoroughly lacking, to say the least. This year, however, Declan was determined to show people what it really means to Bleed Orange. He does not want this change in tone, however, to be solely accredited to him; he sees it as a communal endeavor. If he prompted this change, he wants people to know that this spirit does not end with him, and it takes a village to uphold it. He says, “With the amount of talent that we have in sports and the great coaches that we have, we deserve to have great fans, great spirit. And we have great fans, they just needed a little push. So if I take credit for giving them that little push, that’s great, but it was in them the whole time. And I may have brought it out in a certain way.” It is safe to say that this “little push” Declan has given the ECFS community has tremendously helped the school and its students to come to life again.
Junior Jordan Fienberg says, “Declan brings his personality to every sports game. In turn, it has made the fans of Fieldston more excited to be a part of Fieldston, making us a stronger community.”
With the first NYSAIS championship for Girls Varsity Soccer, and playoff victories for both Boys Varsity Soccer and Girls Varsity Volleyball, Fieldston sports team’s success this year thus far has been undeniable. Declan has cheered all fall sports teams on throughout the season, but has this hype man actually helped create prosperous programs? The man himself says there is no doubt about it, and he thinks “The teams feed off of the crowd life.”
It is clear that Declan’s presence has become somewhat of a good luck charm. But, Semler says he can not be the only person leading a crowd or the only one the players should rely on. He says, “We had a whole army of people come to the Riverdale [vs. Fieldston Boys Soccer] game. But half the school is standing behind not saying anything and Riverdale brings their army. And that’s the culture we need to build. We need to build a culture where it doesn’t matter if you’re on the field, if you know anybody on the field, you’re screaming your lungs out for the Eagle pride. It’s all about the Eagle pride. And like you said, we had so many teams over-perform and do so well this year. I feel like the teams doing well, just adds to it. But the spirit is definitely helping the teams to do well a hundred percent.”
Through this persona that Declan has taken on, he has become a huge motivation and mentor for his peers at school. Younger and older kids alike look up to him and try to match his level of spirit and pizzazz. A Fieldston 7th grader even took it as far as ordering a JBL speaker to be his “mini Sheila” in an attempt to hype people up as Declan does. When asked about his mentorship, Semler said, “Wow. Wow. Honestly, that means the world to me. That’s what I talked about when I say I want to leave my mark on the Nest. I want [for] it not to end when I graduate. It’s all about the future. [Anyone] could end up being the guy with the speaker, bringing the energy, getting the crowd up and its starts right now. You could do it at middle school games, you could do it anywhere. You can get rowdy at any place, at any time. It doesn’t matter. I’ve never played a game of soccer in my life, I go to every single soccer game. I don’t even know what I’m looking at, and I am still screaming my lungs out. Listen, that’s what it’s about. Look, I’m always getting the youth involved. I love getting the younger kids involved in the dances after the games. I put the speaker on like a 5-year-old’s back the other day and he started dancing around. Everyone wants to get hype, and everyone has the right to get hype.”
Senior Evan Brez, says, “Declan is truly unique. Fieldston sports would not be the same without him. We all love the Uncle of the Nest.”
For the fans who are wary of this spirit’s longevity, do not fret—as long as Declan is here, he is committed to making Fieldston sports a place of pep and zest. “I think [the new school spirited culture] will definitely carry on. Basketball games are going to be unreal this year. We have such a great team. We are going to be going crazy at these games. Indoors the noise just gets so much louder. Get up to the gym, start getting loud. And we will definitely carry on this tradition to the winter and spring sports.”
Semler has essentially turned into the new Eagle mascot. However, taking on this role comes with some trials and tribulations—like its impact on school work. One would think that this intense focus on the school’s athletic culture would overshadow focus on academics, but Declan says otherwise. He claims that he has “been keeping up on academics. I mean, I found that there’s a way to tie both things into each other. Teachers, it kind of creates a different type of relationship with each teacher. According to Semler, taking on this role has become a tremendous benefit in all realms of his life.
Declan Semler has not only created but also become a new phenomenon at Fieldston. He hopes that this practice carries on long after he graduates, and the immense benefits we have seen from it—both on and off the field—create the suspicion that it is here to stay. This spirit culture that Declan has cultivated makes it cool to care about school-related activities again and makes people of all ages proud to be Eagles.
